Ten minutes after I published my track-by-track review of the new Ben Folds Five album,The Sound of The Life of The Mind, the video for "Do It Anyway" was released & I had to immediately update the post to include it. Put together by Chris Hardwick (of Nerdist fame & Lisa crushing), it is one of the happiest things I've ever seen, & a wonderful way to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of The Fraggles. Enjoy everything, but especially Anna Kendrick's shirt. WANT.
Also enjoy the making of, which is far more entertaining than a making of should be.
STRAWZ
Look, it's not like I have a problem getting bourbon into my mouth, but these straws would make it more fun* than my usual dramatic sobbing as my Han-Solo-Frozen-in-Carbonite ice cube melts away into it: "You KNOW? What kind of response is that, you nerf-herder! Get back here!" Construct your own silly straw from this set of 44 dishwasher-safe pieces. Imagine the drinking game possibilities!
Buy it at thinkgeek.com.
*More fun for my husband, who has to listen to that weekly.
ED O'NEILL MEME
This has been going around quite a bit & at first I thought Modern Family must have been giving a nod to Married With Children. Then I realized that a newspaper was a pretty subtle way to do that, so I did what every curiosity leads me to do: shots of whiskey. After that, I googled it. Turns out it's a prop newspaper that has been used in many TV shows & movies throughout the years, with common headlines like "Cat Burgler Strikes Again" to avoid legal/continuity issues. Check out this compilation by a Reddit user:
Now for your mind to be blown:
Ed O'Neill reading about himself reading the same newspaper for 20 years.
LEGO LORD OF THE RINGS: THE VILLAINS
The video game won't be in my PS3 until October 30, but the villain artwork has been released today. Saruman! Uruk-Hai! Orcs! Cave Troll! Ringwraiths! Shelob! Nazgul! Balrog! So excited!
Also confirmed is that ALL of Middle Earth will be recreated in this game (not just the parts seen in the movies) for exploring, & extra hidden tasks. So it's been nice, but I'm going off the grid in November.
AARON PAUL ON THE PRICE IS RIGHT
Last night, Aaron Paul won his second Emmy for his masterclass performance as Jesse Pinkman on Breaking Bad. I love seeing how moved he gets when he wins these things, like he really doesn't know he's brilliant. Check out his win:
But it's not just award shows that bring out emotions in Aaron Paul...being told to "Come on down!" also works. Check out this amazing footage of his Red Bull-fueled appearance on The Price is Right before he was famous. It's The Showcase Showdown, bitch!
Those were my favourite sweets of the past week. Come back next week for more goodies!
These are the things that I think are great. So great that I want to sing about them.
OLYMPIC MEMES
I am a sucker for The Olympics, including the Opening Ceremonies. Any large production that begins with various a capella children's choirs is pretty much tailor-made for me. Here are 3 of my favourite memes that popped up after the Opening Ceremonies had aired.
For photos with hilarious captions, check out this Macleans article written by Scott Feschuk, author of the Canadian 50 Shades of Eh. Follow him on twitter for the best Olympics commentary I've seen yet: @scottfeschuk.
ROWAN ATKINSON
While we're on the Opening Ceremony, let's talk a moment about the highlight, shall we? While I absolutely love that there was a children's literature section (& I had no idea that a hospital was completely funded by the proceeds from Peter Pan, did you?), I found it difficult to swallow. Spoonful of sugar or not, Voldemort would have SMOKED Mary Poppins in a battle. The real highlight of the ceremony was Rowan Atkinson's appearance. When they announced an orchestral performance of Chariots of Fire, I was ready to start crying for the 23rd time since the ceremonies began. How wrong I was.
The video isn't on YouTube - we all know how strict the IOC is about these things, but for the time being, you can watch it here. My son has watched it numerous times now, & spent his Saturday morning watching Mr. Bean clips on YouTube. Judging by my twitter feed, my son was not the only child enchanted by his performance. It seems Rowan Atkinson has just gained an entire generation of new fans.
THE LEAP
Remember how cool those virtual screens in Minority Report looked? Tom Cruise could flip, rotate, enlarge, cleanse thetans*, zoom in, discard, & do basically anything with a few flicks of his wrist. A company called Leap Motion has brought us one step closer to being able to do that.
To read more, & see an in-depth demonstration by CTO David Holz, go here.
*thetan cleansing only available to Scientologists.
I WANT TO DRAW A CAT FOR YOU
THE most bizarre gift I received for my Birthday this year was this drawing, commissioned by my brother & his wife:
Apparently, they saw this guy's video, & thought "Random internet cat drawing? That is so Lisa." They know me so well - they also got me this awesome octopus mug. It was a strange birthday.
You can order a cat drawing & look at Steve's gallery here.
While I love the weirdness & randomness of my Game of Thrones cat, specially commissioned just for me, I honestly cannot believe this guy has drawn (as of now) 7545 cat pictures at $10 each. He has made $75,450. From cat drawings. I applaud his entrepreneurial spirit (Mark Cuban is an investor in this!) & I love my silly Game of Thrones cat, but I can't help feeling WTF about it. Also, it did not escape my son that this cat has a human nose & no whiskers, so he drew this for me & then demanded $10. Thanks.
THE IRONMAN THRONE
Keeping with the Game of Thrones theme, this is just so good. We're used to seeing Ned Stark on the Iron Throne:
Now we have Tony Stark on The Ironman Throne:
You can order the print from the artist, Eos Victor, here.
Those were my favourite internet sweets of the past week. Come back next week for more goodies!
These are the things that I think are great. So great that I want to sing about them.
My favourite things of the week all come courtesy of Comic-Con. Every year it sounds amazing, & every year I wish I had gone. One day, I will get there. It is written.
Not just a mecca for hardcore comic book readers & gamers anymore, there is probably something at Comic-Con for everyone. If you don't care about The Hobbit (?!?!?), you might like to see a panel with creators & stars of The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, True Blood, Community, Twilight, or Kevin Smith. No? Maybe play the new Tomb Raider game? Check out the art of Tim Burton? LEGO? The Mattel display featuring Greyskull?
Who doesn't like Greyskull?
If all else fails, there's this:
Hundreds of thousands of fans descend on Comic-Con every year, & it's more mainstream than ever. The media still call Joss Whedon a "cult favourite"...yet he is behind the 3rd biggest movie of all time, co-wrote Toy Story, & has created shows with mass appeal. We are all embracing our nerdiness like never before, because really, everyone is nerdy about something they love, right? Whether comic books, film, TV, video games, music, food, sports, science, beer, architecture, the octopus, foreign policy...when you love something, you obsess over it. The thirst for more knowledge never goes away.
Comic-Con...I will forever want to be there, & here are a few examples of why it is such a shiny shindig. Before I get started, let's be honest - if you read my Confectionery blogs, you know of my love for Firefly. So I'll get most of the non-Firefly stuff out of the way first, because there's a lot of Firefly love here.
ROBERT DOWNEY JR.
It's hard to tell if this is Robert Downey Jr. appearing at Comic-Con for Iron Man 3, or Tony Stark appearing at a Stark Expo. Whichever guy this is, I WANT TO GO TO THERE.
Later, he crashes an Iron Man Costume Contest for kids. Super cool, super cute. Watch & imagine how star-struck all those hidden faces must be.
THE HOBBIT
The Hobbit panel previewed 12 minutes of The Hobbit to rave reviews, & also featured an adorable surprise guest, Elijah Wood. Watching this, I realize I am now in love with Richard Armitage's voice. At 12:13, just try to keep yourself from sighing.
Also, the first LEGO set based on the upcoming Hobbit movies was revealed at Comic-Con. Unlike the darker Helm's Deep, & Shelob Attacks sets under the Lord of the Rings title, this set features an adorable Bag End, with characters Gandalf, Dwalin, Bombur, Bofur, Balin & Bilbo.
You can see more photos here, including detailed shots of Middle-earth maps on the ground behind the hobbit hole.
THE WALKING DEAD ESCAPE
San Diego's Petco Park was transformed for Comic-Con into "a ballpark infested with zombies where you will climb, crawl, hide & slide your way to safety". To add to the realness, the zombie makeup was done by the creative team behind The Walking Dead. Check it out:
I am a huge fan of both the graphic novels & AMC series, & I can say without a doubt that I would never do this. I don't do haunted houses - I can't even handle anyone following me up the stairs. I'm confident that if I had attempted this obstacle course, someone would have found me curled up in a garbage can, sobbing, on the last day. You do not want me on your zombie apocalypse team, unless you plan to use me as bait. I can't argue with that logic.
ZACHARY LEVI'S NERD HQ
Zachary
Levi understands the power of fans. When his series Chuck was
threatened with cancellation in 2009, fans took it upon themselves to
not only write letters, but purchase sandwiches in a campaign for Subway
sponsorship. Watch this video of Zachary Levi leading Chuck fans in a
mass exodus to a Subway shop to save Chuck. It worked.
Last year, The Nerd Machine (a company founded by Zachary Levi) launched a separate event in San Diego at the same time Comic-Con was
on. The idea was to host small panels, Q&As, gaming events &
parties on a more intimate scale than Comic-Con. All proceeds go to Operation Smile, & last year $40,000 was raised. This year it was on track to make $100,000 (no figures have been released as of now). It is an amazing grass-roots event that this year had fans tweeting about being at a Nerd HQ dance party, sandwiched between Felicia Day & Joss Whedon. Panels included Dr. Who, Damon Lindelof, Twilight, Joss Whedon, Nathan Fillion, Seth Green, & Zac himself. Of course, the one I will embed is the wonderful Joss Whedon panel.
All other panels can be viewed at break.com, & you can read great blogs about the Nerd HQ experience here.
JOSS WHEDON WAKES UP FANS
At 3am Friday morning, fans who were camped out overnight to get into the Firefly 10th Anniversary panel were awakened by Joss Whedon. Joss went down the line to see everyone who was there, taking photos & signing autographs for the people who love Firefly as much as he does. How can you not love this man?
You can read an in-depth blog by someone who was there here.
FIREFLY 10th ANNIVERSARY PANEL
If you've never seen Firefly, maybe you don't understand the big deal around this gathering for a 14 episode series that's been off the air for a decade. Firefly was treated poorly by FOX - episodes were aired out of order, timeslots were changed abruptly - & it was cancelled after 11 episodes had aired. The fans rallied & eventually Firefly was resurrected in the form of a movie, Serenity. Firefly & Serenity continue to have a massive fan base, & if you have yet to watch this phenomenal series, please do so.
The panel itself was both hilarious & touching, & at times deeply emotional. Much has been said about the love between the cast & crew of Firefly, & it is apparent that this is still true, 10 years later. Firefly meant a great deal to everyone. The Science Channel will be airing a TV special about this reunion on November 11th.
The entire panel is worth watching, but here are a few highlights:
At the 16:47 mark, Adam Baldwin explains the origins of the infamous Jayne hat, likening it to "a birthday cake in a wasteland".
At the 24:23 mark, watch the hilarious mugging of Nathan Fillion when Joss gets sidetracked before answering "Why was Nathan the perfect captain for the Serenity?", & then watch as he can't contain his emotions when Joss finally answers.
At the 43:10 mark, Nathan delivers a beautiful sentiment about the ending of the show.
At the 47:48 mark, Joss is overcome when asked "What do the fans mean to you?" Virtually everyone on the panel is in tears along with him as a standing ovation cheers him on. He finally ends with a touching tribute to the fans & damnit, I'm crying again.
If that's not enough Firefly Comic-Con coverage for you, the post-panel press conference is just as entertaining & moving. Here it is, split into 3 parts.
As Nathan said, "When Firefly died, I thought it was the worst thing that could possibly happen. And what I realize now, 10 years later, looking out onto this room, is that the worst thing that could have happened is if it had stayed dead. That it died, is ok."
And as Joss said, "Can everyone tweet that I said that? I don't want him to have the best."
Those were my favourite internet sweets of the past week. Come back next week for more goodies!
The Nintendo Wii U system is scheduled to be released just in time for the holiday season, & this morning at E3, a few of the games were announced.
Among the new titles for the new system are a new Super Mario game, & one I'm very excited about, LEGO City, being described as Grand Theft Auto meets LEGO.
I AM IN.
I love, love, love the LEGO games that are based on licensed material. Batman, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, & Pirates of the Caribbean: I love every single one & cannot wait for the release of their Lord of The Rings game.
The LEGO games are filled with hours & hours of content, wonderful (& familiar) stories, humour, & gorgeous soundtracks. They are, quite simply, fun. I can play them by myself or with my son...& LEGO is just awesome.
All of our LEGO games are for our PS3, but I guess I'll be buying a Nintendo Wii U.
